


Reunion

by Akaiba



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Married Couple, Original Character(s), Pining, Reunions, World of Warcraft: Legion Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-25
Updated: 2018-06-25
Packaged: 2019-05-28 11:56:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15048455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akaiba/pseuds/Akaiba
Summary: This takes place in the Legion timeline, post taking the Broken Shore and securing Deliverance Point.Her falling was comparatively a small price, Daina realised. Her siblings had paid it, her friend had paid it- her wife had paid it. Who was she to falter in the face of the greater cause?





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Art-by-G](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Art-by-G).



> This was written as a birthday gift for the lovely FarseerDri, but I'm happy to share it here too. Please enjoy our hopelessly in love ladies as they struggle through the apocalyptic story of Legion.
> 
> Olivienna belongs to @farseerdri @art-by-g

Sulfur choked each breath Daina pulled into her lungs, an acrid bite of filth that echoed the twin clangs of the wrathguard’s blades against her shield. There was a rhythmic pattern to it and yet Daina knew she wouldn’t be able to last as long as the wrathguard might. If not that one, then the two imps behind it, the five felguard behind that- they were endless. Each blow she blocked pushed her back a step and fractured her further from the group. Panic pricked at the edges of her control but she held fast. She had to. 

 

Too many stories of how her father had died- separated from his allies, outnumbered until his skill meant naught, beaten into the ground through sheer attrition- made even her years of training waver in the face of falling. It was a reality too sharp and too present to her, picking at a still fresh wound. Names leapt to her tongue, urging her to call for aid, but it only added to the fear. Olivienna was gone. Years now, Daina had waited for her wife. No one had seen Daina’s brother, Aeradun, since the Nighthold fell. Anahlya had been buried and mourned in that same day- both of her siblings, lost. Her closest friend, Cedravin, had fallen when they took the Broken Shore. Now, Daina had no allies that did not look at her with barefaced despair. She was their leader now, for good or ill, she was all they had left and she would not falter now. Daina would never be able to rally their confidence again if she cried out, but if she didn’t... then she might never see another day. 

 

An ear splitting screech had Daina flinching away as her shield staved off another assault. Staggering back another step from her squad, she looked to the sky and balked. Across the barren field, Aponi bellowed out, “Felbats!” to alert anyone who had failed to register what the bonedeep scream meant. “Look to the sky!” The tauren bid them in warning.

 

Throwing the wrathguard off balance with her shield, Daina kicked him back with one sturdy boot and followed that with her sword. Slashing Oathkeeper up hard, she cut him across from hip to neck with the swing before she slammed her shield into him again. This time when the shield struck, he fell to the floor with a gurgled cry. The felguard that took his place paid him no mind, however. “Bring them down!” Daina managed to roar between the grind of metal against metal. She caught a strike to the jaw and with it, her helmet flung from her head and disappeared from reach. Trampled underfoot, beaten into the battlefield- it was no use to her now as she taste blood in her teeth. 

 

A flare of fiery red hair, long pointed ears- a blood elf. Liadrin, Daina’s mind supplied. It was she who noticed the separation between them at Daina’s order, her gaze snapping from Daina to the horde between them. “Commander!” Liadrin barked, her teeth grit in determination as she readied her sword. 

 

“Bring them  _ down _ !” Daina roared again, a snarl curling her words as she ordered Liadrin to hold. There would be no saving any of them if the felbats picked them off one at a time. Even full plate armour wouldn’t deter a fellbat from snatching a lone soldier high into the air. The mages from Dalaran were around, but Daina was not willing to place her faith in one close enough to save a soldier from a deadly fall. They’d fought had enough to take Deliverance Point and the fighting to hold it had not stopped since, they could not afford a mistake now. If they could hold the hill up to the ridge, then they could retake the beach and bring more aid via the seas. They just had to hold for Illidari coming from the northwest, they would turn the tide.

 

With clear disapproval, but seeing no alternative path, Liadrin raised her arm, “Halduron!”

 

Further up the hillside, a flash of golden hair Daina knew to be Halduron mimicked Liadrin’s raised arm. He turned to the rangers at his side, crying “Fire!” as he flung down his arm.

 

Arrows peppered the sky and soon the ear-splitting shrieks Daina heard were ones of pain- a hearty thing to hear after the fear choking her failed to abate. Still, the demons upon her did not halt and Daina’s strength was waning. As expected; the demons were not. Collateral damage, her tactician’s mind said. They would push the demons back and hold the front once the felbats were downed. With no sign of the Illidari reinforcements yet, all they could do was hold and each breath the forces between her and her allies grew. Her falling was comparatively a small price, Daina realised. Her siblings had paid it, her friend had paid it- her wife had paid it. Who was she to falter in the face of the greater cause? Cold calm swept Daina up as one felguard fell to her sword, but a second bore her to one knee with the weight of his blow to her shield. Distantly, she heard Aponi call to her but her breath was too short to reply.

 

Daina wondered if her father had felt this; the serenity of inevitability, or if he had choked on the unfair selfishness of wanting to live. Aeradun would have torn through the demons with his magic, Anahlya would have sustained their allies with the Light, and Daina could do nothing but stand here and take blow after blow. Even Cedravin would have been more use, but he wasn’t here. None of them were. Soon, neither would she. As resilient as she was, her refusal to break was no aid with no one there to defend as they took down the demons. She was merely delaying the inevitable.

 

With one final strike, Daina felled the demon that had brought her to her knee only to face the emaciated form of an inquisitor flanked by imps. The imps bounced with malicious delight, felfire burning at their fingertips which they hurled at Daina when she attempted to silence the inquisitor. Truthguard blocked their fireballs but did nothing to halt the inquisitor’s magic. The first eye it summoned blasted a continuous stream of felfire at her, the tower shield of Truthguard blocking it easily but locking Daina into the position of supplication. Her strength was failing her and she had little left, the coppery bite of overexertion dizzied every breath of brimstone air she pulled in. 

 

Suddenly, the assault stopped, heralded by a far more welcome screech that had Daina freezing. Peering over the lip of her shield, Daina spied a great owl tearing into one of the imps with bloodthirsty abandon, scattering the other imps in a panic. The barbed ends of a chain harpoon lashed around the inquisitor’s throat, tearing the paper skin of its throat out as it anchored deep. Leaping closer, Daina’s saviour hauled the inquisitor to the ground and their polearm cracked into it’s skull. With a raspy, wheezing cry, it died and Daina blinked up at the hunter with wide eyed surprise. Clad in chainmail and a deep hood, Daina couldn’t guess who they were at first. The great owl, however, splattered with imp blood, that hopped to Daina’s side was one Daina couldn’t forget. The owl flapped her wings irritably at Daina as if urging her to stand tall. There was a fight to win. “Windsong…” Daina breathed, the owl chattering her beak as Daina dropped her sword and reached out to pat the owl’s head. Pleased with the greeting but clearly ready for battle, Windsong fluttered back to the hunter’s side. There was no one who Windsong trusted, no one the short tempered beast would even listen to, no one but Olivienna. 

 

The sharp turn of events had Daina reeling. From accepting her fate to the sudden relief of evading it, she could only stagger to her feet and reach for the hunter as they turned away. “Wait!” The cry was broken and cracked, the impulsive bark of it wrenched from Daina’s throat as her heart pounded hard in her chest. It… it couldn’t be… “Livvy?” The hunter tensed but did not turn around, “Olivienna?!” So many years; no letter, no word- nothing, but Daina knew.

 

Slowly, the hunter started to turn, but Aponi’s voice cut through the field once more, “Brute!” she heralded. The felbats had been downed, the forces between Daina and her squad beginning to thin, and yet the ground shook intimidatingly with each stomp of the Mo’arg brute towards their vanguard. As ever with the Legion, the sensation of victory was fleeting and meager. “Formation, now!” Aponi’s voice beckoned and Daina leapt to obey, snatching her sword from the ground and surging into position at the fore. She did not hesitate as she passed by the hooded figure but still, she felt ready to burst with hope. While her heart raced, however, her well trained mind reacted and she stood strong with those of the paladins who rushed to brace their shields alongside hers.

 

Each loping stride struck aside whatever demons had yet to move. The horrifying squelch and crunch of an imp that fell underfoot had Daina balking but still she held. Her mind was racing, searching for the hunter she  _ knew _ but couldn’t snatch hold of yet. It had to be her wife. With the brute bearing down on them all Daina could do was hope that the hunter would still be there once it was dealt with. It had to be Olivienna, Daina knew no other hunter who Windsong would even acknowledge let alone fight beside. The great owl was more cantankerous than anyone Daina had met and yet no amount of chewed underthings or half mutilated ‘gifts’ Daina remembered could change the euphoric relief at hearing Windsong screech again, somewhere close. She didn’t dare turn to spot the owl but hearing it bolstered Daina’s resolve because it meant the hunter- Olivienna- hadn’t left. That alone had her determined to tear through any army the Legion threw at her, just to get to Olivienna.

 

Liadrin rushed the brute, flanked by two paladins who followed her lead and struck at the demon’s sides. A flurry of arrows overhead covered their leap back as the brute swung for them and Daina roared to draw it’s focus back to the stalwart line of defenders. Aponi’s sunwalkers bellowed their own cry and with Aponi herself leading them from the left, they charged at the brute’s side in mirror to Liadrin’s charge from the right. The hulking monstrosity swatted at them blindly, becoming enraged at the attacks that seemed only to annoy it. It’s hide was as tough as iron and deflected what it’s cumbersome armour did not catch. They had to find a weak spot- usually the neck or between the armour- but that meant waiting for an opening.

 

The brute hefted the blade it carried and Daina’s eyes widened in alarm. “Fall back!” She cried, holding her arm up higher and commanding Truthguard to her aid. The silver hand paladins at her side hesitated, unwilling to leave their commander when she clearly wasn’t withdrawing. Truthguard pulsed with the Light, calling the blinding force to bear between Daina and the brute’s blade, and finally her allies obeyed.

 

Truthguard pulled power to itself at Daina’s command and in a burst of scorching light, the face of the artifact projected a shield wall between Daina and the Mo’arg brute. Blinded by the blast, the beast’s arcing strike came down with less force. A blow that should have crushed her was instead held by the shield and rendered her an immovable obstacle to the creature ten times her size. The clash of metal boomed like a gong and the force of the blow being repelled made a wave of force strong enough to ripple the ground around them. So close to it and lacking her helm, the shockwave rumbled through her armour, and made Daina’s ears ring painfully; but still, she held. 

 

Like a breath, the moment held still. Daina could feel the itch of her sweat slicked hair stuck to her face, the aching weight of her muscles as they protested, and then- all at once- the rallying cry rang out from the fighters gathered with her. In a copper tasting rush the moment seemed to suddenly shatter and the battlefield erupted with action again. Bearing down upon the monstrous brute came blade, mace, and arrow, tooth and claw; everything they had. Blinded from the shield of Light and alone, thanks to its own reckless crushing of its allies, the brute swung wildly but could not fend them all off. Daina watched for each chaotic thrash the brute made, leaping to curl Truthguard between the beast and any being it attacked. Each strike against the mythical shield reverberated through her, and while it might have ached Daina’s arm to bear, the shield withstood many a blow that would have crumpled a lesser shield. Fel tainted blood ran down the gouges of weapons that had made it through the beast’s tough hide, splattering the ground into a sticky sludge that clung to their armour with each movement. It was a more welcome sight than the usually crimson blood of fallen comrades Daina couldn’t save.

 

As the brute weakened, Liadrin saw her moment and leapt high into the air. Her sword arced overhead and across from her, Daina saw Aponi attacking in mirror. Aponi’s mace, nasty as it looked, did not draw the brute’s focus, however. For a breath, Daina waited for a rush of holy light to pass overhead. She was so accustomed to Anahlya’s comforting healing that in the haze of battle, Daina had forgotten that they’d _ buried  _ Anahlya- her sister wasn’t going to save Liadrin as the brute wrenched it’s towering blade towards her. There was no healer at Daina’s back, no familiar presence of her sister to match her stance in practiced harmony, and from the way the brute attacked there was no chance any healer further back could save Liadrin. The blood elf had committed to her attack and they had counted on the brute choosing Aponi as the bigger, and there for more threatening, target. There was precious little logic with the chaos of the Legion, however, and Daina reacted in gut wrenching panic. 

 

She threw out her hand, pulling Truthguard to her side as she raised her sword and engulfed Liadrin in a bubble of holy Light. The spell would only hold briefly, but it would be unbreakable and enough to protect Liadrin. The Light coursed through Daina and weakened her strength to wield it with every moment she held on, yet as the sword struck the protective bubble it merely glanced off and Liadrin remained unharmed. Daina sagged with relief, her knees unsteady as Liadrin landed safely and the barrier faded. A momentary glance of respect and gratitude was all they had time for when the brute remained. Now enraged at being thwarted in it’s assault, it turned to Daina as the source of it’s ire. 

 

Many moments in many battles, Daina had felt afraid. She had no shame in it. If she did not fear death then she would be no paladin of worth, in her mind. The strength was in overcoming it and holding onto what there was to protect, to clutch that tightly and keep going. She was not a warrior who longed for glory in battle, only that through her fighting she might defend those who could not defend themselves. The brute was lumbering towards her and Daina had the weight of all those who had been lost or hurt beyond repair, all the funerals and painful memories, and yet for the first time in a long time there was a glimmer of hope alongside the pain. She  _ knew _ in her heart Olivienna was somewhere close and that was precious, but reckless. She couldn’t lose her and already Daina had lost sight of the great owl, Olivienna no doubt slipping away among the fighters- just another figure in a crowd. Years of loneliness clawed at Daina to do something- anything- to draw Olivienna back to her.

 

Recklessness, Daina mused, did not begin to cover the idea that came to her. Weakened and needing to gather her strength before she reached for the Light again, Daina should have drawn back from the brute. She was a leader but not a one woman army, she knew there was someone to aid her, but instead she raised her sword and gave a rageful cry as she squared up to meet the beast. A dizzying, fearful hope gripped her and Daina refused to take her eyes off the brute. If this was how she was to die, then she would go into her passing knowing that Olivienna no longer loved her. There would be no living beyond knowing that, so what better way to go?

 

The ground shook with another gargantuan stomp and Daina’s hope began to fade. It turned to resolve, refusing to cower, when suddenly a figure leapt in front of her- directly into the path of the brute. Wide eyed, Daina watched the shell of nature magic spring from her saviour’s hands. It shrouded them and did not break even as the brute’s sword struck against it. The brute bellowed and drew his sword up to strike again, the blow reverberating off the shell and making Daina’s ears ring again with the force of it. She took no notice of it. Her gaze was fixed on the back of her rescuer’s head.

 

Liadrin seized the distraction to leap once more atop the brute’s form, landing with a foot braced on its back as her sword plunged into its neck. The impact overbalanced its stance even as it tried to reach for Liadrin, fumbling as she wrenched the blade out at an angle only to drive it in deep again. Her efficacy seemed aimed at decapitating the monstrous creature. Even as it fell forward, Liadrin held fast and followed without losing her balance. The shell’s magic did not falter under the creature’s weight, instead the curve of its bubble tipped the brute to fall sideways. Liadrin hopped off elegantly and a collective breath eased across the field before a cry of victory rang out. The hooded figure lowered their hands, dropping the shell, and turned to face Daina with clear anger.

 

They reached up to the hood and threw it back, snatching their mask down and there she was- Olivienna, snarling and furious, and blessedly alive. An aged scar sliced across her face from forehead to cheek, a deeper pink than the rosy hue her night elf half gave her. Her coppery hair was wound tight into a long braid, longer than Daina remembered, but she was still as short as ever. Still as beautiful as the first time Daina had ever laid eyes on her. The half-elf’s long ears were flattened in her anger, her pink skin flushed from the battle, and the silvery glow of her eyes narrowed at Daina like she could strike Daina down she was so offended. As ever, Daina’s towering stature and bulk did little to dissuade Olivienna from squaring up to her estranged human wife. Daina’s chest felt like it might burst from the surge of love that bloomed in her, despite Olivienna's fury. 

 

“What,” Olivienna seethed, “was  _ that _ ?!”

 

A dazed, disbelieving smile broke out on Daina’s face. “Livvy…” she breathed. Filthy, splattered with blood, her dark hair slicked to her head and shaking with exhaustion, Daina couldn’t have been a less appealing sight but it couldn’t stop her smitten fawning.

 

The nickname brought Olivienna up short with her tirade. Daina let her sword and shield fall to the ground, staggering forward a step to embrace Olivienna to her when she halted as Olivienna flinched back. 

 

So much time had passed and Daina couldn’t hope to know all the changes Olivienna might have gone through, all the ways she might have dealt with the events that tore them apart, and Daina froze before lowering her arms to her side and smiling more gently. “I… I’m sorry, I-I… you’re  _ here _ .” The word bore so much heartache and loneliness, so many nights of wondering and praying to the Light that her wife was safe.

 

Olivienna regarded her somewhere between wary and ashamed, as though willing the ground to swallow her up. “You… you tricked me.” It sounded less of an accusation and more a realisation. As a hunter, Olivienna should have recognised the trap.

 

Looking from the downed monstrosity to Olivienna, Daina offered, “I had to know it was you. I saw Windsong and I…” She trailed off, but as if called the great owl strutted up to Daina and butted her head against Daina’s hand in demand. Obligingly, Daina patted the owl’s head. She took solace from the beast not turning away from her that it might mean Olivienna wouldn’t either- not again. Daina wasn’t sure she could take that. 

 

“Highlord?” The title was still so unfamiliar that at first, Daina assumed they were calling for her sister. Remembering they’d buried Anahlya hurt deeper every time, but it was the way Olivienna jerked back that spurred Daina to reach for her before Olivienna could draw away entirely. She didn’t dare actually grasp hold of Olivienna, couldn’t stomach the idea of chaining her to Daina if she didn’t want to stay.

 

“No, please,” Daina begged. The panic hit her so fast that any fatigue she had from the battle could not compare to how fast that sensation threatened to bring her to her knees.

 

Olivienna glanced at Liadrin behind Daina. Daina didn’t need to look to know the shrewd paladin was watching their exchange intently as Olivienna shook her head, “I c-can’t, I-I…”

 

“Dalaran,” Daina blurted out desperately, “Meet me in Dalaran.”

 

“Daina…”

 

“Our usual spot, I’ll wait for you.” Aponi was closing the distance now and Olivienna hastily pulled her hood back over her face. Daina ached to reach out for her, to hold her close, and yet she wouldn’t force Olivienna to stay if she truly didn’t want to. 

 

As everything in Daina strained to follow the few hurried steps Olivienna took away from her, the pause Olivienna took had Daina’s heart leaping to her throat. Finally, Olivienna offered, “Tomorrow.”

 

She was gone over the rise of barren ground before Aponi reached Daina, Windsong leaping into the air with a great beat of her wings after the agile hunter. There would be no following her. If Olivienna didn’t want to be found, then she wouldn’t be. The promise of tomorrow, however, left Daina staring after her with a pained, yet hopeful smile. 

 

“Who was that?” Liadrin frowned as she followed Daina’s gaze.

 

Dazed, Daina murmured, “My wife.”

 

Liadrin shared a surprised look with Aponi who could only shrug in answer. Daina had made no comment of a wife to either of them, but if it didn’t concern work then Daina rarely offered much comment so Liadrin resolved to leave the question there for now. She’d have to look into the matter later, but more pressing was the reckless stunt Daina had pulled. Liadrin shoved her elbow into Daina’s side to stagger the lovestruck paladin back into the moment.

 

Daina caught herself before she could tip face first into the dirt.“Hey!”

 

“You’ll get more than that if you try to kill yourself like that again,” Liadrin gave her a pointedly stern look more suited for scolding a child as she stressed the title, “Highlord.”

 

Daina twisted her face, “Alright, I get it.” She bent down to retrieve Truthguard and Oathseeker, readily walking away from her companions to gather herself. Overhead, the leathery beat of wings made all look up sharply but the sight of the Illidari’s late, and largely unnecessary, arrival drew only tired mutterings.

 

“Want to draw straws for who gets to have it out with Kayn?” Daina heard Aponi ask Liadrin. 

 

Daina smirked, “I’ll happily share the report with Maiev so she can go after Illidan, if you’d like.” 

 

At the idea, Liadrin scoffed a laugh in amusement. “I am more than eager to inform Kayn of exactly how his assistance has been received here, but by all means- I am sure Maiev would be delighted to hear your report, Highlord.”

 

The three chuckled at the well known entertainment the animosity between the warden and her former prisoner provided. Daina did not doubt, however, that Liadrin would report her recklessness back to the rest of their companions, either. That argument was not one she could defend herself too readily in, but Daina knew she wouldn’t do it differently. The gravity of Olivienna’s presence seemed ready to bowl her over at any moment but it couldn’t overshadow the euphoric hope that it brought, even as it tore open the pain and hurt of so many years alone. “Tomorrow,” Daina repeated to herself. After everything- everyone- she’d lost… it was more hope than she’d had in a long while.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr: akaiba.tumblr.com


End file.
